My Son wants to buy this TC, Is he Crazy?

[bka0721]

Craigslist TC Camper listed in the Portland Area

Well, you've got to give my son credit, in that he wants to get a Truck Camper for himself, like his dad. He is a very frugal kid and often buys and sells from Craigslist so he is experienced there.

Looks like a S&S camper and his plan is to put it on a 2X4 Toyota Tacoma. I don't remember which year. But he checked the payload for the truck and it lists in at 1.5k.

He is very familiar with overloading a truck and has gotten my thoughts, so, what better place to get some sage advice than from you ladies and gentleman. He knows the score when the seller stated that; "It only weighs 1,000 lb. and it is often carried on small trucks like Rangers and Toyotas."


b

[jaycocreek]

He is very familiar with overloading a truck and has gotten my thoughts, so, what better place to get some sage advice than from you ladies and gentleman. He knows the score when the seller stated that; "It only weighs 1,000 lb. and it is often carried on small trucks like Rangers and Toyotas."

Sounds like your son already has the experience needed to make this decision.I started very early in life with truck campers back when truck campers on 1/2 tons was a common thing.I have had four full sized truck campers on 1/2 ton labeled trucks.None of them had the bathroom or holding tanks and with very minor additions to the truck,road and handled extremely well.

I just bought a truck camper and looked long and hard at what was offered within 200 miles of my location.There were and are several S&S campers for sale..A very popular camper in the northwest as well as some of the Fleetwood products like the Elkhorn..

As for the price..One has to live in the area to have any idea what they are going for and are worth for buying and selling.My train f thought was $1000 and below was either junk or very old.$1000-$2000 was lots of water damage or hidden problems..$2000-$3000..This is where it started to get my attention,,Possible good deals on well taken care of campers.$3000 and up..This is where the majority of good/well taken care of truck campers start in this area.

$4000 for a well taken care of 90's truck camper is not out of line,maybe a little high depending on the unit but definitely not out of line if it's top shelf without any signs of leakage.I once got a guy down to $3k on a garaged lance squire of 90's vintage without a crease in the outer skin or blemish anywhere to be found.Looked like it just came off the floor.These older units are very hard to find.

An overloaded truck is an overloaded truck regardless of it's label and it sounds like your son is on top of it and knows what he has to do to make this camper work for him and his needs.I would give him the reigns and let him call the shot on this one!

Good luck in your journey for a truck camper for your sons 1/2 ton labeled truck.There out there but hard to find!

[btggraphix]

Ranger Tim wrote:
Here in Idaho, land of the TC, we see these S&S campers that don't have the signature dark bubble windows up front quite often. This one looks legit to me.

NW Montana and Idaho is where you see a TON of S&S's, and where I saw an old one with that same paint scheme and no bubble windows. I had to look twice to believe it was an S&S, but ive no doubt the one listed here is an S&S.

I've been to their factory twice, and met the owner a few times including at the NATCOA show....the last time was near the end for them manufacturing retail campers, and had just stopped making any of them with the bubbles. I asked him why they stopped them, and he said because they got tired of "selling people the windows instead of the camper." Meaning he had to convince people that they were a positive instead of a negative.

You either loved them or hated them.....and most people that owned them did in fact love them. We sure did. Opening up all the curtains in the morning in a secluded spot gave you views in over 180 degrees from bed. Ours never had any substantial water leakage, but they did condensate in super cold weather....having a perfect rectangular opening though, you could cut and insert foam boards to fit perfectly in the space with no tape or anything.

It's a great brand, but that is a super old camper.....I also think the price is $1000-$2000 too high, unless the thing is in amazing condition. Sad S&S quite making them; got killed by the economy at the same time we lost a lot of other brands.

[Ranger_Tim]

Here in Idaho, land of the TC, we see these S&S campers that don't have the signature dark bubble windows up front quite often. This one looks legit to me.

[SidecarFlip]

Heck, I would have sold him my Lance but it would have squashed his truck....

[SidecarFlip]

I might buy 1045 with no water in the tank empty propane bottle and nothing in the fridge either.... maybe.

My Palomino SS1500 weighs 1950 and it's a pop up.... dead empty. Granted Filon weighs more than textured aluminum skin and I have a wet bath and tanks but the tanks and pooper are empty too. I ran it across a CAT scale so I know what it weighs, which isn't an issue for me as it's on a 1 ton Ford.

One thing I've learned from CL dealings is that price is always negotiable. Always. I think the price is about 2 grand too high, if, the camper is tight, dry and has no rot. if it's not, price becomes really negotiable.

Pretty easy to tell if it has water issues..

Lift the mattress and look in the front corners on each side. Open the lower drawers along each wall and look at the juncture where the wallboard meets the floor. Look closely on the inside surfaces of the back wings and feel for softness. If it has water damage (and rot) that is where it will show.

Also, look closely at the aluminum skin along the lower edges above the anchor points on each side and see if it's corroded or has any holes in it. Water getting in will corrode the aluminum from the backside and cause pinholes. Aluminum rusts just like steel, but slower and the 'rust' is a powdery white.

Finally, look at the floor around the entrance door. If the floor covering appears lifted in any way, the floor is wet and rotting. Door openings have a bad habit of letting water in and it gets into the floor plywood and rots it.

Just some tips to keep your son from spending all his free time doing a resto job.

[work2much]

bka0721 wrote:
Keep it coming guys. I agree without the tanks and fixtures, you lose a lot of weight. My son has learned how to live off the grid from me and a lot on his own. So he is good with the bare minimum. My first thought is a test load on his truck and see what the "truck" has to say. Like you, I feel the price is a bit high, too.

b

Has he contacted the seller? A high res picture of the manufacturers tags might be helpful to see what he is looking at.

[SidecarFlip]

Powerdude wrote:
You are correct that the only S&S campers were larger ones, for full size trucks. Not for compact trucks like a Tacoma.

See This ad for what they looked like.

Also this and click on the red floor plan clicky.

That camper is most certainly NOT an S&S.

Thats the animal I saw, with the odd front windows that looked to be perpetual leakers.

[bka0721]

Keep it coming guys. I agree without the tanks and fixtures, you lose a lot of weight. My son has learned how to live off the grid from me and a lot on his own. So he is good with the bare minimum. My first thought is a test load on his truck and see what the "truck" has to say. Like you, I feel the price is a bit high, too.

b

[btggraphix]

Ps: the higher end line was called the "Ponderosa" series....SC stood for "Self Contained" meaning it had a full bathroom and grey/black tanks.

[btggraphix]

S&S DID in fact make a camper that looks just like this, back in the 90's. Plus you can in fact see the large black oval S&S logo towards the top left rear of the camper. I have no doubt this is an actual S&S. get a photo of the tag itself to see the details and do your research. I would be, well, pretty freakin' shocked if it actually weighed 1045 pounds but you never know. By 2003 or so they had two lines, a Bitteroot series that was plain, no frills and was a lot lighter. The higher end line (we had a 2003 8.5SC) was fully featured, and HEAVY (ours was close to 2800 I think). So I would guess this mid 90's ranger was more like the bitterroot and substantially lighter than ours, but 1045? Find out because I'd be shocked.

Get that tag image! Or drive down and have him load it on HIS truck, and take it to a scale at a truck stop. $8 and tells you the truth. If he won't do it, you r help you do it on YOUR truck, then pass. If you are in the market, get your tie downs installed down at Torklift, so you are ready to jump when something comes up, or to test drive something you find (and weigh.)

[Powerdude]

You are correct that the only S&S campers were larger ones, for full size trucks. Not for compact trucks like a Tacoma.

See This ad for what they looked like.

Also this and click on the red floor plan clicky.

That camper is most certainly NOT an S&S.

[Lwiddis]

"payload for the truck and it lists in at 1.5k."

Leaves him less than 500 pounds at seller's reported weight for water, food, a friend, bicycle, portapotty etc.

[SidecarFlip]

I don't know an S&S from a B&O so I'm out on that premise. The only S&S campers I've ever seen were huge ones.

$4500 sounds steep for a camper of that vintage no matter what model. I sold my Lance this summer (2002) for a grand. Had some wing rot issues and needed a board for the Norcold but everything else was fine,

[SidecarFlip]

work2much wrote:
1045 pounds. lol

When you eliminate the dry or wet bath and holding tanks, you drop a bunch of weight right from the get-go. Probably has a single propane bottle too and no oven, just a stove top.

Basic necessities and a bunk. Really all you need.

I have a wet bath in my unit I've never used. I use it for storage. It's there for when my wife decides she wants to come along and so far it hasn't happened. So, I carry the extra weight with empty tanks.

If I had my druthers, I would have opted for a cassette toilet but it wasn't available when I bought my unit. I did get the outside shower, which I use.

[Powerdude]

That doesn't look like an S&S camper, in my opinion.

I remember following S&S campers and looking at their website extensively around the 2000-ish time frame.

S&S campers of that vintage had the corner windows that jutted out, especially in the late 80s and 90s.

Their campers never had that conventional camper look, and they had WAY more storage and were never built for a compact truck, that I am aware of.

1045 lbs is way too light for an S&S camper.

They were built in Montana with insulation and storage for Montana winters. Most were true 4 season campers.

That looks like an S&S placard glued onto an some other random brand camper, in my opinion.

I would seriously walk away from the deal. $4500 for a 1996 camper of some uncertain vintage? No way.

Just my opinion.

Look for a good used Six Pac, or a rarely found Northern Lite built for compact trucks.